STORY: The skiing group was made up of Russian and Polish nationals and two local guides, police said.

A rescue operation was launched following the incident, Kashmir's police chief Vijay Kumar told Reuters, and two bodies were recovered. Police later said 21 skiers and two local guides had been accounted for.

The skiers were hit by the avalanche in the Affarwat area of Gulmarg, Kumar said, days after heavy snowfall in the hills of Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, though each country only controls parts of it.

Police identified the two Polish skiers as Krzysltof, 43, and Adam Grzech, 45. Their bodies have been moved to a hospital.